The Kid Is Back
by Retro Soul
Summary: Fifteen years after Ponyboy's terrorizing encounter with a murderous hitch hiker, he's 29 and is still trying to accept what happened to him when he was 14. Now, he seems to of gotten himself into the same situation. Could he be reliving his worst nightmare? SEQUEL TO TAKE A RIDE ON THE WILD SIDE.
1. Fifteen years later

It's been fifteen years. Fifteen years, but of what though? I spent the first five trying to piece my life back together and trying to forget that vile man's menacing smile and his psychotic chuckle. Its hard to believe I was just 14 when it all happened. To Soda, its nothing but the fading past, but to me, its reality. I relive that day.

Over and over.

The images in my mind, they replay with no end. I'll wake up with my face drenched in sweat and cramps in my gut. The nightmares, they never cease. In my dreams, the rain will whip around as Rick's hand knocks on the window of our car.

BANG, BANG, BANG.

In others, I'll be cradling Jim in my arms and wailing for him to stay alive. In my dream, I know he's going to die. But it's the transition that I cant bear. The worst two are Nash's death and having my life flash before my eyes at that gas station. I tried to live with myself, I did. But I soon found why Nash took her own life like the way she did. I needed help, the whole gang could see that. While Soda was able to pull on a mask and carry on as if life was as usual, it was harder for me to do the same. Complements of the Texas police station, they supported me to see a therapist for two years. I would've gone longer but, unlike that second day when all I wanted was to talk for hours about it, I felt as if I was being constrained into a life that was no longer mine.

"_How are you today, Mr. Curtis?" the therapist soothed, eyeing me as I took the seat opposite him. _

"_I don't want to do this anymore,"_

"_Excuse me?"_

"_Tell the police station they don't have to send a check next month. I don't want to do this anymore. I'm sorry." I told him and, just as soon as I'd sat down, I got up and walked right out of that office._

I thought that was the end but it only got worse. Over time, I found a way to deal with the memories and the nightmares. However, I never did accept it. Dealing with something and accepting it are two completely different things. And I know I'll never be able to accept it. Or forgive Rick for what he'd done. Unlike the peaceful state I had been in after killing him, my emotions became like choppy waters and I never again felt so peaceful as I did on that day.

Before I knew it, 15 years had passed by and I was living in an apartment with my girlfriend, Cherry Valance, I was 29 and it was 1980. I didn't start dating Cherry until I was 21 and there were no more socs and greasers. As we matured, the labels seemed to be lifted. She was also one of the reasons that my condition started to better itself. While I was with her, letting myself get captured by her gaze, I forgot about all of it. I felt as if a heavy load of baggage was being lifted from my shoulders and I could finally breath without worrying myself. When I was with her, I felt free. And the twisted thing was, she reminded me of Nash.

We lost Johnny. Not his life, but we lost him, in his head we were strangers. Since his injury was a gash in the side of his head, it messed with his brain, he didn't remember any of us. It felt as if I was slowly being sliced at the throat when he didn't know who I was.

"_You can see him now," the nurse said softly as she opened the door to Johnny's room. Her eyes, they held a painful secret, I could tell. As I entered and rushed to his bed side, I felt my stomach squeeze. _

"_Johnny!" I exclaimed, grabbing a hold of his arm. But he pulled his arm away from me and seemed as if he were frightened of me. He had a gauze over the side of his face and small scrapes on the bridge of his nose. _

"_Who are you?" he asked, his face confused. _

"_Johnny, its me! Ponyboy!"_

"_Excuse me?"_

"_Ponyboy Curtis! Your best friend? I saw you last at the police station after Sodapop was taken away. I'm sorry I left you there alone, Johnny. But at least you're alive." Johnny's expression didn't lift when I explained myself, he only got more confused. "Remember?" I asked, my voice turning to a slight wail._

"_I don't know any Sodapop or Ponyboy, and I definitely don't remember any police station. All I know is, I woke up in this hospital and they told me I was lucky to be alive. I'm sorry but, if I knew you, I don't remember you. Doc says I lost my memory." I felt my nose start to burn and tears well up in my eyes. How could Johnny not remember me? To him, I was nothing but a stranger. Finally, I let the tears roll down my cheeks and dribble down to my chin._

"_How can you not remember me, Johnny? We're like brothers, you and me. After all we've been through, I cant believe you don't remember me!" I sobbed, sinking my fingers into his shoulder. I could tell my pain was having an effect on him. His hardened and confused face melted and his bottom lip started to quiver as mine was. _

"_I'm sorry. But to me, you're nothing but a stranger."_

It took eight years to get Johnny back. Not remembering his parents any more than he remembered me, he refused to live with them. He was sent to live in a boys home across town in which we visited him until he trusted us enough to move in with us. Sometimes, when we were together, laughing, he'd remember something and start to cry.

_Doubled over with laugher, I grasped Johnny's shoulder and let out a hyena-like laugh - something I hadn't done in a while. Abruptly, Johnny's laughing cut out and his eyes went wide, his expression blank. _

"_Johnny?" I beckoned, looking at him. He took moments to respond and to snap out of his gaze. With tears welling in his eyes, he turned to me. _

"_We were at the lot. You were beside me, softly laughing as you looked up at the stars. It was night time. And the fire was reflecting off your face as you laughed." I lightly rested my hand on his shoulder and rubbed it, soothingly. _

"_Yeah,"_

_Sobbing, Johnny hunched over. "I wish I could remember. Really, I do, Pony." He then looked to me, tears stained against his tan face. "Why cant I remember?" _

Although Johnny had partially recovered from his injury, he'd never be the same. We'd never really get Johnny back. A reoccurring contemplation entered my mind constantly, and I cursed at the very thought of it, despite that it was true. Rick was the cause of all this. I would remain bitter at the man for the rest of my life.

But what I didn't know, was that I was about to be met with the same situation. And like most circumstances, one in particular that had destroyed my life, it all started with a stupid idea.


	2. Road trip horrors

Uncut for work. Mentally unstable. The words were constantly being said to me, and if they weren't said to my face, they were surely being said behind my back. I went through job after job, failing continuously. All I wanted was to make things right again and return to normal but, at the end of the day, I'd always go home with the pang of rejection thrown over my shoulders. After the incident, my head began to mess with me and I couldn't concentrate. It wasn't just at school, I couldn't concentrate on anything. I dogged my way through high school and barely finished my first year at college before they realized I had falsified my application forms. Rick really screwed me up good. My life was turning into one big shithouse.

I had lost my job _again_. Cherry was not going to be happy. She always bothered me about getting help but I'd brush her off. Finally, on the day I was fired from my most recent job, I got an unusual phone call.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Ponyboy Curtis?"

"Yeah?"

"It's Caption Esteridge from the Texas police station. You remember me, don't you?" Of course I remembered him. How could I forget? Although, his call was extremely unexpected. While the Texas police station supported my therapy sessions when I was younger, Esteridge hadn't spoken to me since the incident. Maybe it hurt him to see how much it impacted me. Sometimes I don't even know how I got myself through it.

"Of course, Caption. We haven't spoken in a long time. Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong, per say. I've just heard that you've been having some trouble lately with keeping a steady pay." his southern voice remarked from the other line of the phone. I wasn't surprised he knew about my inconvenience. The police station was always checking up on me like I was still just a kid. Maybe that's how they still saw me. The 14 year old boy who went through hell and back, and ended it with a simple bullet on a dusty road.

"Oh, uh, yeah. They say I'm mentally unstable for work. I don't get it."

"It's ok. I was wondering if you'd want to visit me at my home in Texas. Maybe I could help you out. You married, son?" Fifteen years and he was still calling me son.

"No, sir. But I live with my girlfriend."

"Great. Bring her along."

"Oh, uh, I don't think that's a good idea. I don't think she would want to know about what happened."

"She doest know?"

"Well…she knows very little." I hadn't told Cherry most things about the incident. Its not that she'd get scared, she didn't scare easy. Its just, I felt if I told her the whole dirty truth, she'd think different of me. I knew for a fact she would see me differently if she knew I'd killed Rick with my own hands and that it wasn't the police that did it. I knew she'd never be able to look at me the same way if she knew I'd killed another human being. So I kept it from her.

"I want to see both of you. It'll just be a friendly visit." Esteridge said. He then continued to give me his address and directions to his place.

When I arrived at home, Cherry was making dinner. Her scarlet red hair rain down her back and ended just above her waist. She had grown into a beautiful woman, she was hardly the confused soc she was when I first met her.

"Hey, love." her face lit up when she saw me standing in the door way as she walked over to me, wrapped her arms around me and gently kissed my lips. I tried to kiss her back but I was lousy at compensating. She could tell I was upset. "What's wrong?" she asked nonchalantly. But she knew. From all the times I'd lost my job, she'd have to of known. We'd been dating for eight years and had been living with together for three. Surely, she knew.

"I lost my job again." I muttered, keeping my eyes downcast. I couldn't look directly at her. "They said I wasn't cut out for the work. I'm sorry, darling." Cherry exhaled, removing her arms from my waist.

"Damn it, Pony. When are you going to get some help? I told you, you weren't fine! But do you listen to me? No! You need help, Pony!" she hacked off at me. I ran my hand through my hair. It was the same _Damn it, Pony _lecture she'd repeat every time.

"Well this time I got help!" I shot back, remembering Esteridge's call. Immediately, her expression changed.

"Well that's great! From who?"

"Caption Esteridge from the Texas police station. He wants me to come down and visit him this weekend."

"Oh. Well that's good." her tone lowered in excitement when she learned I was going to be away. I didn't want her to come along. Mostly for the reason that I was hoping to visit Nash's grave but also, Cherry had nothing to do with the incident. She wouldn't understand. But the way she was lowering her eyes made my lips bare the words.

"He wants you to come to." Her face lit up again. Just like I knew it would.

"Oh, that's so exciting!" her voice was back to cheery and she held onto me, pressing her face against my chest. "This is going to be great. A road trip to Texas!"

_**Road trip. **_

The words hung heavy in the air as it all came rushing back to me.

"_C'mon, Pony! Let's go!" Soda's voice shouted from the car. _

"_Wait a minute, willya?" I called back. This was one of the most exciting moments of my life. After much begging, me and Soda finally persuaded Darry into letting us take a road trip to California. California! I could barely believe it when Darry said we could go. Just think, me, Ponyboy Curtis from lonely Tulsa going to California! We got Johnny to come along too. Not that I didn't enjoy spending time alone with my brother, it's just two is a couple but three is company! The more the merrier! And plus, I don't know how Johnny would survive if I was gone for a whole month. It seemed like a dream come true. I barely believed we were even going until this moment. This was the moment when it all started coming to life. _

_Darry gave me a tight hug, squeezing the living daylights out of me and setting me back down. "You stay out of trouble, ok?" he warned, pointing a finger at me._

"_Don't worry, Darry, I will." _

It all played out in front of me as I held Cherry and let her words slide over me.

_I spotted a large blob-like figure standing in the distance at the side of the road. I wanted to ask what it was but the words just sat in my throat, not escaping through my mouth. Suddenly, I realized that the blob was a human - a hitcher. _

"_Hey, pull over!" I said out loud, forgetting the three of us were in some sort of unofficial silent contest. _

"_Why?" Soda grumbled. It was time for him to give up the attitude. "C'mon, lets pick up this guy. We could have a big conversation or something! Come on, Sodapop!" I pleaded, a smile on my face. He eventually gave into my impish pleas and smiled back, pulling the car over. _

"_Are you guys sure about this? I've heard about hitch hikers who are murderers." a timid Johnny said from the back._

"_Relax, Johnny. This guys isn't a killer."_

I had been so wrong. It was ironic how, when I thought back to everything that played out, I was so stupid about things. How could I not of known?

"_Please…I'll do anything." I pleaded, letting my cold sweat run gradually down my face. _

"_Say four words…" Rick commanded as if a trading offer was hidden in his statement. _

"_Ok." I agreed hastily. Anything to get this guy out of my face. Out of this car. Out of my life. An oppressive silence lingered in the car as the three of us awaited, what seemed like, my fate. But it was true. Rick held my fate. Despite all I had been through, nothing could have prepared me for what came out of Rick's mouth._

"_Say: 'I want to die'. " he ordered with that smooth voice of his. _

_I was taken aback. What do you say to that? I sat there, seeming dumbfounded, sitting in my own sweat, gathering the words. It was hard to concentrate with Johnny muttering "Your face, Pony. Oh, Pony, not your face.". My face? What had happened to my face? Hearing that, I was certain I had been sliced but too shocked to even feel it. _

_Without thinking, my words through, I blurted, "I don't know if I can say that.". Did I want to die? It was more of an understanding that I was going_ _to die, more than it was a choice._

All those thoughts were connected to those two simple words. _Road trip_. I would never be able to get past those thoughts. So many more poured in about Nash, Jim and Esteridge. Almost being killed at the gas station and meeting Rick face to face in the barn. Remember how I said that it all started with a stupid idea? Well that idea now had a name. It's name was Road Trip.


End file.
